I used to despise writing.

How anyone could enjoy writing words down on paper was a concept way beyond my comprehension.

But I liked reading. And I liked thinking about what I’d read, coming up with alternate scenarios, wondering what would happen if the characters had done one thing differently.

And then one day I was struck with inspiration. A story had presented itself to me and I felt compelled to touch the pen to the paper and write down the thoughts running around in my head.

A few months later, I had written my first “novel.”

But still, I hated writing. I didn’t like to write essays in class and I didn’t like the creative take-home assignments either.

And then something changed. I began to be struck with inspiration more often and found that in many situations I simply couldn't put down the pen.

And I began to enjoy writing.

I love sitting in front of a blank page on a computer screen because it is mine to fill out and create any way I want. I can fill it with my thoughts and feelings and bend it to my will however I feel.

I love molding stories and plotlines the same way I would mold a ball of clay and I love to twist words into a coherent string of thought, tugging at the middles and ends of my sentences so they lie flat against their neighbors.

For me, writing is more than simply pressing keys on a keyboard or drawing a few symbols on a piece of paper, it’s a way of expressing myself fully.

When I write, I write for myself. The purpose of spoken communication is to be understood and to have a conversation. Writing is different in that the intended audience is allowed to be yourself.

I write to remember things and I write to figure things out, to establish connections between events in my own life I never would have known existed otherwise.

It offers me an opportunity to reflect and to think differently about things. It allows me the opportunity to work my mind in a different way, putting it through different paces than the ones it usually goes through.

I’ve found poetry to be the same as spinning a spider’s web or creating lines of code for a program; there is a structure to remain within and a specific means to accomplish, but the rest should be done beautifully and tastefully embellished.

Writing has taught me a lot. It has taught me how to think like other people and it has taught me more about myself. It teaches me the difference between the kinds of things I like to think about and the things I am truly passionate about.

When I finish writing a very heartfelt piece, harnessing these passions and forming them into words, I feel accomplished. Like I created something wonderful.

When I write well, I feel successful.

Writing is one of the only things in my life where I feel I don't have to conform to the standards of others. Instead, I create my own standards and my own goals and write the way I feel is right.

Writing is the purest expression of myself.